Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. I had to put SOMETHING out.

Richard sat on a very expensive sofa in the main parlor room of the castle, Ruby on his right with Yang to his left, and Jaune sitting in his own chair just across from them. They all had differing looks on their faces, Yang looked a little miffed. Jaune, having finally got the rest he so needed, looked excited. Ruby was laying on her side contently with her head lying on one of Richard's thighs and her ears being attended to. Richard himself looked like he was contemplating something, lightly pulling on one of the curled edges of his budding 'Doc Holliday' Van Dyke mustache while he lightly scratched Ruby's ears, of course, it looked a little wimpy now, but it would be a mustache worthy of being worn by royalty in a few months, but that's another topic.

The looks on their faces were synonymous with their reactions to being told that their previously extensive grace period had been reduced to a measly ten days.

After a few moments of the four, well, three really, because Ruby was momentarily distracted, contemplating the news, Jaune spoke up.

"I for one think that this news is excellent, the sooner we get to Beacon, the sooner we can begin to learn there."

Yang's slightly upset face faded, "That's true, I admit that I was a little angry that we only have a little more than a week to prepare now, but I guess the sooner the better," she smiled lightly, "The only thing I'm a little confused about right now, is why Ruby isn't bouncing off the walls?"

Richard replied, "Ah, well, that's because I'm currently subduing her, at least until we know how to stop her from destroying the castle in excitement," he nodded down to her and the quiet happy whining and 'scritch scratch' of his fingers on her ears and the spot just behind them on top of her head, and the wide smile on her face and closed eyes that appeared as a result. Jaune chuckled a little while Yang 'awwed.

"But, we should probably let her 'bounce off the walls' now instead of later," with that said, Richard took his hands off of Ruby's ears. She let out such a pitiful and begging whine afterward that Richard nearly went back to giving her ears attention. But, with a strained look on his face, he managed to resist.

Ruby's eyes fluttered open as she sat up next to Richard and stretched. "Ah, that was nice."

She looked at the smiles on everyone else's face in confusion. "What's going on? Why are you all smiling like that?"

Yang spoke up, "Well Rubes, we have just been sent a wire that told us that we are gonna go to Beacon Academy in ten days."

Ruby's eyes lit up like stars, "Really?! Yes!" she yelled out in excitement. "OhmygoshRichiewehavesomuchtoprepareforIneedmoreammoforCrescentRoseandIneedtobuyafewweaponmagazinesandwehavetomakesurewehavealltheclotheswewanttowearandweneedtoaskHeadmasterOzpinifwecanuseourownclothesasuniformsiftheyrecloseenoughtothenormaluniformsand-nggh"

"Woah there Ruby!" Richard interrupted her incomprehensible rant by quickly wrapping an arm around her and placing the other on her head. Meanwhile, Yang and Jaune looked like their brains were going to melt from their attempts at understanding what Ruby said. "We still have time, it shouldn't take long to prepare for the school year, we just won't have too much free time in the process."

"Mmmhmm, okay," Ruby muttered out distractedly, of course, the thing distracting her was the feeling of Richard's hand on her head.

"Well!" Richard started, as he turned away from Ruby so he wouldn't see her pouting face, "I believe that we should start the preparation immediately. Ruby will go pick up necessary munitions at a local dust shop, and I will call Professor Ozpin at Beacon and make sure we can use our normal clothes instead of the school uniforms if we so wish."

Yang spoke up after recovering from her brain melt, "What about me and Jaune?"

"It's Jaune and I, Yang." the coal magnate's son quipped. All he received in reply was an eye roll.

"Why can't we just have servants do all that anyway?" Ruby asked curiously.

"Because we must get used to living without them, most of our time for the next four years will be spent at Beacon after all, and we cannot bring our servants with us."

"Fiiine. Anyway, you guys can do whatever you like to prepare." Ruby replied, with the latter half of her statement directed and Yang and Jaune.

"Then I'm going to go practice with Crocea Mors," Jaune said as he got up.

"And I'm gonna go check out the city a little more, ya know, get familiar with our surroundings." Yang piped up as she mimicked Jaune's actions.

"Alright, guys! Have fun!" Ruby cheered happily as she walked out of the room.

Richard gazed at her fondly as she left, before turning to his friends, "Well, you all have fun." He got up to go to the phone on the wall in the next room. "Remember to stay safe Yang!"

Yang let out a laugh at his statement.

Days later, Richard was sitting on his bed with Ruby's head in his lap as he ran his hands through her hair.

"So you beat up a criminal huh?" Richard asked her.

"Well, kinda. We didn't really have a one on one, I knocked out his goons though. They're in jail now." Ruby replied with a blush due to his hands on her head and lupine ears.

Her fiance smiled, "I'm very proud of you Ruby, I suppose it's a good thing you forgot to get those weapon magazines the first time you went there eh?"

Ruby giggled, "I guess so. Are you ready for the big day tomorrow?"

Richard gently pulled on her soft ears as he replied, "Of course! I cannot wait to see how Huntsmen from other kingdoms perform in combat and in academics."

Another giggle, "That's so boring! I wanna see all the weapons everybody will have! Killing Grimm is a great plus too!"

Richard laughed, "That's great enthusiasm you have Little Rose, let's hope it translates well into action eh?"

Ruby pouted and puffed her cheeks at him, "Of course it will!" She poked his chest, "Just you wait!"

Another laugh, "Alright Little Rose, I get the message."

A short, but comfortable silence ensued before Richard broke it, "By the way, tomorrow I am going to go to the airfield for a few minutes before we leave. If you don't mind, you can go on without me, I'll meet you there."

"Alright." Ruby's response came with a puzzled look.

I'm finally coming into a hell of a lot of free time. So expect longer, more frequent chapters, and maybe even a Resident Evil/RWBY crossover!